Beko DPHR8PB561W Heat Pump Tumble Dryer Review

When we moved into our home three years ago, we inherited a loud old tumble dryer that a member of the family was about to throw out.

It sounded a lot like a small plane taking off, the door at one point had to be taped shut and it was probably the least efficient white good in the house.

So when it seemed to get noisier, I knew it was only a matter of time before it would come grinding to a complete halt.  Lo and behold, it did just that halfway through drying a load of sheets.



I did a little research on the internet to try and find something to replace my old one. Usefully, having no vent built into the utility room (thanks architects!) it needed to be a condenser or heat pump drier and these are usually a little more expensive.

Consequently, I consider myself really rather lucky to have been sent one to review by the folk over at AO.com, the Beko DPHR8PB561W Heat Pump Tumble Dryer.

This dryer not only has a sleek, modern design but also has plenty of great features; the highlight being the internal light, which means you can hunt down that rogue sock hiding at the back of the drum on darker days. It is also quite amusing to watch the washing going round like circus tumblers under a spotlight. 

The sensor drying is a little sensitive and once or twice I've had to add an extra few minutes to finish the drying completely, but this isn’t a big problem for me and I prefer that it stops the cycle sooner rather than over-drying and wasting energy.

The functions are operated via a super-easy-to-understand dial and the water tank and lint filter are easy to empty also. It is quiet (well anything is compared to my old one) and has plenty of functions rather than being just warm or hot, which means I can dry all of the clothes and not just sheets and towels like I would do before. 

With a 24 hour timer, it is great for setting ready to come on first thing in the morning or whilst I am out at work ready for when I get back.

Overall, I love this dryer and would consider it well worth the extra outlay over a standard model.

We were sent this item in return for our opinion on the dryer, all words and images are my own.

Intelligent Waste with the Totem 60 from Joseph Joseph - Review

When we moved into our new house our grubby old bins came with us, we'd had them for years and although they were cleaned, time had taken its toll on them. With two separate bins, one for rubbish and one for recycling we had to keep one in the garage and one in the kitchen, it wasn't an ideal situation.

So when Joseph Joseph asked me if I would like to review one of their Totem Intelligent Waste Systems I obviously said yes, anything that meant I didn't have to go through two doors and back to put something into the recycling bin!

The bin has a sleek design and being square, it fits more neatly into our kitchen than the old round one did. The Totom 60 is available in several different colours but since our floor and units are white, we went with the white and silver option.

From looking at the bin, it is hard to see how it is bigger than our old one and I expected we'd be emptying it more, however it does have a big capacity for rubbish, something I think is helped by it being square rather than round, so I have only been emptying once, twice at the most a week, although we don't really make a lot of rubbish anyway.

The recycling section, although not as big as what we used to have, is plenty big enough to hold most of what we make and is emptied every few days, the biggest plus point for me though is having the rubbish and recycling all in one place.

The simple slide out door of the recycling section means I can lift out the box and pop out to the bin with ease, it can also be split into two sections meaning you can have paper in one and glass in the other. The top section also has a handy food scraps box which sits in it, great if you have a compost heap, and with the lid having an odour filter, those nasty smells don't escape into your kitchen.

With our old bin, when you put a bag over the inner section as you slid it down into the bin itself the bag would unhook itself and wouldn't quite be a snug fit, and on removal it would always seem to rip as you tried to remove it from the bin, with this the lid is such that it fits over the edge of the inner bin and you don't have any problems on placing into the bin or on removal.

It really is intelligent waste, with nothing in its design that I would change, my husband has a different view and he would prefer a foot pedal, for me though this was always one of the worst places for dirt and half the time it wouldn't lift up or would fling the lid back against the kitchen wall. This has no nooks and crannies for dirt to get trapped in, making cleaning easier and more efficient.

This bin looks great in our kitchen and thinking about our families and their bins, they could all do with something like this, with two bins or a bin and a pile of recycling to put in the outside bin when they go past it, this is the perfect solution that would fit in any home.

People may look at the price of this bin and say it is too expensive, but if it is anything like our last one it will still be with us in 8 or 9 years time. This is an investment and something to last many years, with easy cleaning I expect that it will look as good for those years too. 

The bags for the bin cost £6 for 20 which is more than I was paying for our old bin bags, however they are much sturdier meaning no rips and leaks, which in my book is worth paying for. My only concern with this bin is whether the bin bags will be made in the next 8-9 years and what we will do if they aren't.

We have several pieces of Jospeh Jospeh in our house and they are practical, modern and functional, this is no different and I actually don't mind taking the rubbish out for once.

NB: We were given the Joseph Joseph Totem Intelligent Waste System in order to create this post, all words, opinions and pictures are my own.

Twilight Garden from Zoflora

I have been using Zoflora for a few years now and it has become part of my cleaning routine, making sure everything from my toilet to the bin smells nice and are bacteria free.

They recently relaunched a fragrance after popular demand, Twilight Garden, a blend of moonlight flowering lilies with the richness of ylang ylang and jasmine, balanced with uplifting notes of peach and musk.

Unlike my usual favourite, Springtime, this fragrance is more like a perfume and is very strong but I like it and we've been using it in our downstairs toilet, my children love it.

The great thing about Zoflora is that if you clean the toilet with it, it leaves a long lasting scent not only on the toilet itself but on the toilet brush, so whenever you clean the loo it smells great again.

It is also perfect for popping on a bit of kitchen paper and placing in the bottom of your bin, it leaves it smelling great.

Zoflora have a world of information about how to use the disinfectant over on their website as well as some great ideas in their news section. 

They currently have a competition over on their Facebook page where you could win a £500 holiday from Best Loved Hotels, plus many more prizes available including ‪flowers‬, garden centre gift vouchers and Zoflora Twilight Garden.

NB: I was sent this product to review, all words and opinions are my own.

Make Your Own Scrabble Art

I'm always trying to find unique ways to make the house look pretty and these scrabble art pictures are the perfect way to create wonderful pieces to hang in your home.

You can usually find old scrabble sets for a few pounds either at the charity shop or car boots, so do keep an eye out if you fancy a go at this.  For the background on this picture I used some sample pieces of wallpaper I'd picked up when we had been in the DIY store, you could use wrapping paper, a map, photo or any other type of paper or even fabric.

You'll also need some glue and a box frame, you can have a search around the charity shops for a frame or you can buy a new one, they are usually quite reasonably priced from places like Wilkos, B&M, Home Bargains or even one of the supermarkets.

First of all take the back from your frame and lay on the backside of your paper or fabric, draw around the edge and then carefully cut out the background, it is worth trying out your scrabble pieces on the paper or fabric to make sure it is easy to see, on busy backgrounds they might not be so obvious. Once you are happy then stick the paper or fabric to the back piece of the frame, I used Dovecraft glue from Wilkos, it is really strong and only about £1.

Once you have glued the paper/fabric to the back of the frame then you need to lay out your words, have a play with a few words you like and you'll eventually find something you love, obviously the words need to be able to connect, have as many or as few as you like. Names, special words or places are great to add. 

Once you are happy with the words you have chosen and the layout then carefully stick them down onto your chosen background, if you are using a large frame it might be worth using a ruler or spirit level to make sure the lines are straight.

Once you have finished, careful place the back into the frame and there you have it, a simple but effective picture, perfect to give as a gift or just for yourself. Now all you have to do is decide where you'd like to hang it and how many more you can make with the left over pieces.

The great thing about this project is, if you get bored of the background or fancy a change you can just take off the tiles and start again.

What would you put on yours?

Little Miss Turns 5 - Setting a Beautiful Birthday

My daughter turns five on Saturday, five! How did that even happen? Time certainly does fly, it doesn't seem five minutes since she turned one. I always like to make a fuss on birthdays, well for everyone else anyway (I don't really for my own). So here is my little bundle of pink loveliness for the little miss this year, I can't wait to decorate the lounge and dining room with bright pink prettiness and see her little face when she comes down on Saturday morning.

For her cake I am intending to do a simple plain pink cake with these beautiful tall candles and little mini foil balloon. So here is to my baby baby, my littlest of littles and be sure to keep an eye out on my Instagram feed for snippets of our weekend.

Little Miss Turns 5 - Setting a Beautiful Birthday by themummydiary on Polyvore

Super Shaped Number Balloon Five | Party Balloons & Decorations |... / Pink Gold Ready Made Tassel Garland | Delight Department | Candle and... / Pink, Red and Pastel Cone Party Hat Selection | Candle and Cake -... / Extra Tall Long Pink Gold White Cake Candles | Candle and Cake -... / Paper Circle Party Garland - Ballon Tails | Candle and Cake - Stylish... / Assorted Pink Latex Balloons | Candle and Cake - Stylish Luxury Party... / Mini Number Five Foil Balloon Number Cake Toppers Table Numbers |... / Hot Pink Crepe Paper Streamer | Candle and Cake - Stylish Luxury Party... / Lilac Crepe Paper Party Streamer | Candle and Cake - Stylish Luxury...

Bringing Birds into Your Garden

Even though we used to live in the city boundaries, our garden had lots of trees and was always teaming with wildlife, from foxes to squirrels and many different birds. However, since we moved and only have a hedge behind us before fields, the amount of wildlife we see in our garden has dropped dramatically. For me and the children, this is somewhat of a loss. I had seen a few birds moving about in the hedge but with a few cats next door, they seemed reluctant to come down onto the garden to eat some mealworms we had put out for them.

So when we were at the local garden centre and spotted some suet blocks, we decided to get some to put on the fencing at the back of the garden. The idea came from when we visited Center Parcs last year and one of their wildlife experts gave us some to put on the window of our lodge. It was an instant hit with the birds who would fly up to the corner of the window and eat the suet. The children and the adults loved to watch the birds and it was a great feeling to be able to feed these wonderful little creatures.

So why I am telling you this, well this simple and relatively cheap food is a great way to bring wildlife into the garden and so easy to get your children involved in, all you need is a suet block, available from most garden centres and some supermarkets, you can even make your own if you fancy. You can even put out a few mealworms for them, these little fellas are super nutritious for our little garden friends, full of protein and a sure fire way of getting some visitors.

You’ll need to find somewhere that the birds will visit, our fence backs onto the hedge and the birds also have a good vantage point to spot cats so they are happy to visit here. We stuck some of the suet blocks onto the top of the fence and then on the ground below on our side of the fence we poured some meal worms, the black birds really love the meal worms and although I can't stand to look at them they are the perfect source of protein for the birds.

You don't need a lot of be able get these little feathered friends into your garden, with just a few simple ingredients some time and a little love you too can bring some wildlife close to your home, as well as helping to protect our beautiful birds.

Lovely Christmas Lighting

I love pretty lights and have a few up all year round, nothing says cosy winter evenings and Christmas like twinkling lights.

This year I want to light up the house, from the dining room to the kitchen and the lounge to the hallway I want to make sure the house sparkles and make it as magical as possible for the children.

Here are just a few of some of the wonderful lights available online and on the high street, how do you make your house sparkle?

Lovely Lighting by themummydiary featuring John Lewis

John Lewis wall art / Mercury glass globe / Glass jar / String Lights Festive Selection by Cable Cotton / Buy John Lewis Noel Christmas Light Sign, Soft White | John Lewis / Buy John Lewis Pre-Lit Copper Twig Tree, 6ft | John Lewis / Buy Lit Red Berry Willow Heart from the Next UK online shop / BO White Rattan star

Cosy Sunday Morning Wishlist

Sunday mornings, you'd think after almost 10 years of living in my own home i'd of had lots of lazy Sunday mornings but the truth is I haven't. As an early bird with a husband who likes to lay in, I am often out of bed before him and that is that.

Since we moved into our new home though, I have managed a few. Snuggling up with a coffee, the sunshine streaming through the windows, surrounded by crumpled sheets and and in my favourite bed socks. And with the mornings getting colder there is nothing I would enjoy more than to snuggle up in some of these beauties. This is my Cosy Sunday Morning wishlist...

Cosy Sunday Mornings by themummydiary

Top / Nightgown / Robe / Socks / Blanket / Lazy Cotton Bed linen / Grey Toasty Cable Knit Socks , Size One Size | Joules UK

French Inspired Bedroom

We inherited our current bed base after my husband had a back operation 8 years ago, we've since bought a new mattress from John Lewis to help with my bad neck and added to it a mismatched head board we found in the Pier furniture store when it closed down. The base is discoloured, torn and really not attractive, it is just something we haven't got round to replacing yet, as the children outgrowing their beds and needing new ones was higher on the list of priorities.

Since we moved house, our bed just doesn't look right, the smooth walls and fresh carpets just aren't being done justice by it. After spending a week in France, I felt inspired to seek out some beautiful French bedroom furniture and linen.

I adore this French inspired bed from Loaf and the linen sheets are to die for, I imagine crumpled linen Sunday mornings snuggled up in them. We don't have anything on the walls in our bedroom, and I love these picture frames, perfect for holding memories of special days. Throws and baskets add texture and I love the Thelma & Louise dressing table and stool, perfect for sitting at to do my makeup and hair.

French Inspired Bedroom by themummydiary

Portrait frame, Stool, Margot Bed In Scuffed Grey | Grey Rattan Bed | Loaf,Lazy linen | Loaf,Thelma | Scuffed Grey Dressing Table | Loaf, Panier boule,Dawdler | 100% Linen Quilt | Loaf

My Home Office Shed

I would love a room where I could go to work, write my blog posts, take pictures and keep my vintage pottery. I think a home office shed would be the perfect place to do all of this.

I would fill it with pretty scandi chic inspired gorgeousness, I love this desk and chair, both from John Lewis. The peg board would be great for styling and to keep my notes and to do lists safe.

Beautiful vintage inspired pieces would add colour and shape to make this a room where I could happily spend hours adjusting and readjusting pretty things for photos.

My Home Office Shed by themummydiary featuring a neon bedding

Neon bedding, Office chair, Desk, Delicate Landscape Frame - Copper,Mix Match Shelving Unit | Oliver Bonas,Panier boule, Office accessory / White Pegboard / BE HAPPY BANNER / Dark Blue Storage House 

This is my entry into the Ana Mum Diary and Tiger Sheds blogger competition, although I am sure my dream will never become reality, because if we were ever lucky enough to have an office shed, I am sure it would be taken over by my two children!

French Flash Sticks Review

My son has been learning French at school and as we are due to go on our annual holiday to France next month, it seemed a great opportunity to try out some Flash Sticks, these are sticky notes, like Post-it Notes with French words on them.

Below the words it has the pronunciation of the French word, as well as the word in English and a picture of the word for younger readers.

The stickers come on a card which also has the words on the back, we made it a fun game to go round the house and stick the stickers everywhere whilst going through the words.

For the verbs and others words that didn't have a home, we put them on the fridge or window, so things like world we put on the window to the garden.

Both of the children can already count up to ten in french but it is good to have the numbers there as a reminder to practice.

There is also a really handy app, great for the kids to use, all they need to do is open the app, scan the post-its and a video of the word being spoken is then played, so they can hear how it is supposed to sound. It is also handy for myself and my husband who often get it wrong.

Overall we have found these really useful so far, we are always trying to teach our children about everyday objects, things we find at the supermarket or animals and things around us when we are out and these are a great addition to the home to allow us to keep the momentum up. I certainly don't think it will be long before we are on to the next set.

The sets are £4.99 each and are available in Spanish, Italian, German and BSL too.

NB: We were sent the Flash Sticks to review, all opinions are mine.

Summer Picnic Wish List

With the sun out and summer fast approaching, there is no better time to start thinking about picnics. There is a wide range of picnic items , everything from snuggly blankets, to baskets to carry your picnic in, storage for your yummy food and BBQs to cook it on.

I particularly love the wine glass holders, great for making sure that no more glasses of your favourite vino get tipped over!!

Summer Picnic Wish List by themummydiary

Linea kitchen dining / kitchen dining / Wine Holder / Flatware / Weber Smokey Joe Premium Charcoal Barbecue / Harlequin Kaledio knitted throw 140x200cm calypso / Rice Melamine lunch box x-large - House of Fraser / Family Picnic Blanket Lollies / MissPrint Storage Container, Set of 3 / Rice Oval plastic bread baskets - House of Fraser / Limbo Kit

NB: This is a collaborative post.

Marquee Love Letters from One Stop Craft Shop

I was recently approached by the One Stop Craft Shop, to see if I would be interested in reviewing some of their new range of Marquee Love letters.

As we have just moved house, our new home is a blank canvas in most rooms. In the kitchen however, we are almost there, we have chosen colours and some new furniture and it is really starting to come together.

Firstly, I had to choose a word to have displayed in lights, EAT seemed very appropriate for the kitchen! So, with my word chosen I was sent some letters and coloured papers to get me started, craft is something I love doing but sometimes it's very difficult to find the time, so this was the perfect excuse and opportunity for me to get crafty.

The letters themselves are made from cardboard, they come with the lights and bulbs which slot onto the front, as well as a template to make it easy to cut the paper.

First of all you need to draw around the template and carefully cut it out, I found you need to cut exactly on the line otherwise it doesn't quite fit in into the letter.

Once you have cut out the shape you need to fit it into the letter and then using a pencil I poked the holes into the front to place the lights and bulbs onto the front.

With the paper being slightly thick, it meant the bulbs didn't slot into holes as easily as they could, I certainly had sore fingers at the end of it all. Be careful not too push too hard onto the cardboard and if need be, put a little pressure on the other side to stop it from putting any strain on the cardboard.

Once I had completed the first letter, the following ones were a breeze.

I absolutely love the finished look though, its fabulous and so effective,  they look perfect on top of my kitchen unit in both the day and at night.

I can't wait for evenings in the garden, to be able to put these on and see them through the window, they are really bright so perfect for an alternative to lamps. They are battery operated by two AAA batteries, so don't need to be need a plug either.

These fabulous letters mean that you can swap and change the colour scheme as much as you like, to suit your rooms, whether it be for children's rooms, kitchen or lounge or even parties and weddings. You can even get additional bulbs in blue and pink, the options are endless and if you hop on over to One Stop Craft Shop there is plenty more inspiration from their huge range of stock.

Plus if you feel like a change you can always swap the letters round....

So, what word would you create? Family, Love, Home???

The paper used in this project were, Mini Dots Gold Foiled Paper and Confetti Gold Foiled Paper.

NB: I was sent the letters and papers to create this post, all words and opinions are my own.

Ivy Cabin Review & Giveaway

A few weeks ago I was approached by the lovely people at Ivy Cabin to see if I would like to review one of their products. A quick look round their beautiful website and it wasn't hard for me to find several gorgeous items to choose from that I knew would fit in my home.

My daughters room currently lacks pretty storage, so I chose this beautiful bear drawstring bag for her dressing up clothes.

Arriving beautifully wrapped I was excited to open it, it was a lot bigger than I was expecting which is good and is great quality. It has a drawstring across the top and a hook so you can hang on a on the back of the door.

The perfect size for all my daughters dress up clothes and easy for her to open too.

I think it fits perfectly with the mixed vintage and modern styling we have in her room, and I am a huge fan of the bear print on the bag. It is well worth the money and I think £10 is great value for such a huge bag!

And finally the lovely people over at Ivy Cabin have given me one of these fabulous sacks to giveaway, just enter via the Rafflecopter widget below (T&Cs apply and can be found on the entry options). Plus if you can't wait to see if you win or see something you fancy over on Ivy Cabin's website then you can get 10% off until the end of May with code MUMMYDIARY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New House, New Kitchen/Diner, New Design

We are currently in the middle of a house move, we are moving into a new property and it has a fabulous kitchen/diner, this has led to lots of browsing for new dining tables and furniture to fit into the space.

First up Habitat, they have some wonderful pieces at the moment. I absolutely adore this dining table set, some chairs to snuggle, watch telly in and read a book for the kids whilst I cook dinner. Then this absolutely wonderful desk, which I have the perfect space for, it means I can use it to store my gorgeous vintage pyrex and cups and sauces in too.

The rug is bright, colourful and perfect for adding a drop of colour to the bare rooms. I am also in love with this dinner service, I love the fact you can mix and match and I think this looks better than having all the same pattern.

Habitat Kitchen by themummydiary featuring white furniture

Handmade wool area rug / Black porcelain plate / White oak table / Gray furniture / Upholstered arm chair / Stack furniture / White furniture / Spindle chair

Next up, John Lewis, a similar collection to Habitat. I love this table, chairs and bench, in fact I am loving the idea of a bench, more people can squeeze on when we have people round. The children both have Stokke Tripp Trapps, which add more colour and mean that we only need a couple of chairs.

I'd also add a beautiful rug and some fabulously colourful plates and bowls for a pop of colour to the room. For the computer, there is this brilliant and moveable ladder desk, an ingenious idea which I have the perfect corner for.

John Lewis Kitchen by themummydiary featuring a ladder desk

John Lewis rug / John Lewis extendable dining table / John Lewis dining chair / John Lewis bench / Ladder desk / Royal Doulton Fable Tableware

Alas though, I need a new vacuum first and there will probably be a few fixtures and fittings required so these will have to wait, but it's better to have an idea of what I would like, right?

Getting the Best from Your Mortgage

These days everyone is trying to find ways of saving money, some by switching to a different supermarket for your weekly shop, or more drastically, downsizing to a smaller car.

For many people who own a home, the mortgage is their biggest outgoing but it is often one that is overlooked when trying to save money.

At the end of last year, we spoke to a mortgage advisor, we discussed our situation and that we were concerned about the possibility of the interest rates rising and we wanted to fix our payments for a few years.

It was a simple process and one that took an hour out of our life but in the end saved us £85 a month on our mortgage for the next 2 years. We didn’t need to extend the term or borrow any more money so it was a straightforward fix.

So what can you do? You can check you are getting the best mortgage deal, Santander have a great selection of mortgage calculators and tools to help you out.

If you don’t have a mortgage, then this is a great way to see how much you could borrow to buy a home, they also have a budget planner to help you work out what you spend each month.

So why not have a look and see what you can save.

NB: This is a collaborative post, all words are my own.

Candles for the Home

I love candles in my home, I used to buy cheaper ones but then gave Yankee Candles a go and since then haven't looked back.

Although they are a bit more expensive than normal candles, they need only be on for an hour at a time to give off a beautiful warming scent that fills your home.

At this time of the year, they do some unbelievably divine smelling scents, with my favourite being Snowflake Cookie, this sweet smelling candle reminds me of all things sweet and baking.

I also love the Christmas eve candle, it is a sweet smelling fruity scent and just gives the home a lift on those colder evenings.

They do smaller ones, so you can test them out, this means if you don't like the smell you haven't wasted a lot, but I haven't really found one yet I don't like.

Have you tried Yankee Candles? and if so, which is your favourite scent?

My Perfect Festive Christmas Table

I love Christmas dinner, it is an important part of my Christmas day, a time when we can all sit down together without rushing and enjoy yummy food and talk about the day we've had. But we have a bit of a mismatched set of table linen that we've inherited over the years so I would love to replace it all this year, last years was pretty but not that festive!

So when I saw this challenge with Jen over on Love Chic Living, to put together my Christmas table I jumped at the chance.

I have chosen a white table cloth and then added colour and sparkle with crackers, table runners and oven to tableware in a traditional red.

Festive Christmas Table by themummydiary

Tribecca 44 piece cutlery set / Damask table linen / Stoneware dish / Glass cake stand / Oak cutting board / Ceramic serveware / Red table runner / Silver champagne flute / Glass drinkware / Scented candle / Christmas home decor / Vintage pumpkin glass ball lights / Metal snowflake table confetti / White Stoneware Plate

To go with this, I have chosen some pretty lights, now these are pumpkins but I think they look so pretty and would be great either in a bowl at the end of the table or possibly running down the middle.

I love candles and they always add an element of romanticism, as well as some wonderful condiment dishes and a beautiful cake stand for a Christmas cake or I may go all non traditional and make my new favourite Pumpkin Pie.

Some metal snowflakes to add a bit of texture to the table and then beautiful cutlery, some snow white plates to serve, I love white as it allows you to better see what you are eating.

I can't wait for Christmas dinner, in fact it is safe to say I am starting my prep early this year and will be trying out some new dishes passed on from members of the family.

But the centre piece will be as always Nigella's Redder than Red Cranberry Sauce, I have made it every Christmas Eve for the last few years and it tastes divine and is the perfect accompaniment to Christmas dinner.

NB: This is my entry into the I’m Dreaming of Debenhams Dinnerware competition with Jen at Love Chic Living.